POLICE have launched a new investigation into the shocking claims that a VIP paedophile ring operated at a top military boarding school.

Sun, Feb 21, 2016

Allegations of a paedophile ring at Queen Victoria School are being investigated by police

The probe represents a major development in a 25 year campaign for justice by a retired teacher who risked his career to expose the alleged abuse.Glenn Harrison was a housemaster at Queen Victoria School in Dunblane when he began to suspect that pupils were being preyed upon.He claims that boys were often taken away for unofficial overnight trips with dignitaries, while sexual abuse and bullying in the dormitories was ignored.

Some youngsters appeared badly traumatised, yet when he tried to speak to them or discuss his fears with fellow teachers he was told that certain aspects of school life must remain “secret”.

We will give police every assistance in this investigation that we possibly can

Army in Scotland spokeswoman

In December 1991, he made a report to the old Central Scotland Police and officers responded by breaking down the door to his flat and seizing his journal, computer files and other paperwork.Mr Harrison, who had already handed in his notice at the school, was then escorted from the school premises and interviewed by detectives.He moved to the Shetlands and resumed his career as a teacher, although he continued to campaign for a proper investigation into his allegations.

After police concluded there was “no cause for further action on their part”, the only inquiry was carried out by the old Scottish Schools Inspectorate.

Last year, details of the case were passed to the Scottish Government’s historic child abuse inquiry and Mr Harrison made another official statement to police in Lerwick.

He has also been pursuing a complaint with the Police Investigations and Review Commissioner (PIRC), which concluded in December that officers could have done more to look into his allegations.

Now, in a move which has delighted Mr Harrison and his supporters, the single force confirmed that detectives have opened a new investigation into claims of abuse at Queen Victoria School.

A Police Scotland spokeswoman said: “This is an ongoing investigation and as a result we can’t comment any further.”

However, sources indicated it is part of the wider probe into historic abuse allegations in Scotland, involving more than 45 institutions and 110 suspects – 37 of whom are “persons of public prominence”.

Many of those suspects are now deceased, including the former Solicitor General Sir Nicholas Fairbairn, flamboyant QC Robert Henderson and ex-Bay City Rollers manager Tam Paton.

Mr Harrison, a married father of four, said: “Why would there be such a panic and get me out of the school when I was to leave officially three days later after working six months notice?

“Why break down the door of my home when there was a spare key in the porter’s lodge hardly 100 metres away? The confidential files were very important because they contained a whole 20 months record of letters of complaints to the school management, social services and child protection agencies and more than all else daily records of complaints of boys, incidents, dates and times which led me to have deep suspicions that boys were being abused emotionally, physically and sexually, not just while I was there but decades before.”

The school, which has Prince Philip as its patron and has links to other royals including the Duke of York, is funded by the Ministry of Defence for the children of Scottish armed forces personnel.

In a letter to one of Mr Harrison’s supporters last October, junior defence minister Mark Lancaster appeared to dismiss the prospect of a new police investigation into his claims.

He wrote: “Mr Harrison’s allegations were investigated by Central Police and by Scottish Schools Inspectorate as soon as they were raised in 1991. No evidence was found then, or subsequently, to support Mr Harrison’s allegations.”

Last night, a spokeswoman for the Army in Scotland said: “We will give police every assistance in this investigation that we possibly can.”

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